My local hoop troupe was featured in a magazine and I had to write up some reflections on what hooping is to me and this is what I came up with:

Almost anyone can say that they have played with a hula hoop before, but not many can say that they have danced with one. This philosophy can be made an analogy to almost anything that life encompasses. To me, hooping is a personal journey towards learning more about myself--whether it be physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually. With each gyration of the hoop--it's almost as if a layer of self-consciousness, shyness, negativity, inhibition, or fear is severed at the source--and with each spin, the layer is flung off and outward forever. At the same time, centripetal force draws positivity, enlightenment, happiness, and love towards my body--filling me with a swell of inspiration and energy that can not be rivaled by any other ritual. The mathematical masterpiece of the spiral, ever spinning, ever expanding; the circle that has no end; the revolution of the self.

Wow. That was truly beautifully written. I just keep rereading it again and again.

"With each gyration of the hoop--it's almost as if a layer of self-consciousness, shyness, negativity, inhibition, or fear is severed at the source" <-- this sums up SO well how I feel when I am hooping. Like something heavy is being released and something light is being drawn in.

That same sentence. I just think about how since I've started hooping, I feel so much better about my body. Hooping is teaching me to love myself as I am. I'm a bit overweight and I'm usually hyper aware of how a piece of clothing looks on me. Even when it looks fine I'll look in the mirror and all I can see is that curve that seems too plump, or the way the shirt doesn't fall right because my hips are a little too wide.

I've been doing so much less of that since I started hooping. I've lost some weight, but not a massive amount or anything. After I started hooping I began to realize that when I'm in the hoop, people aren't staring at my flaws. They're staring at the way the hoop and I move together. Hooping has allowed me to let go of my insecurities and see myself as beautiful at any size.